[thearn4]

> I was brought in for an iOS app development job interview

> A couple of the interviewers said they weren't too familiar with Objective-C either, so I clearly wasn't getting interviewed by their iOS teams.

Google's onboarding process is such an enigma to me. I went through a few of the remote interviews for SWE a few years back (I didn't commit to an on-site one in mountain view though). It seemed very odd to me that, near as I could tell, they don't really give an indication about what you would be working on until after you are hired and oriented.

[ptasci67]

I actually prefer the way Google does it. They are really looking for generalists and the process is optimized for that. Once they have determined you have met the hiring bar, then they proceed with a "matching" process which is awesome. You get to list of your interests and get placed on a team in the company that aligns with your preferences and skills.

This is way better IMO to the reverse which is applying to ten different interesting positions at another big tech company and having to speak to individual hiring managers for each position.

[cableshaft]

Speaking as a generalist (I've worked with quite a few different platforms, paradigms, languages, and frameworks), I don't think algorithm-heavy tests is the most optimized way to find those people.

Generalists tend not to live in algorithm and data structure quiz land most days, and it's probably not their strong suit. It's not mine, at least.